The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), is one of Asia’s oldest international

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

s. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies, filmmakers from different countries in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. HKIFF screens around 230 films from more than 60 countries in different major cultural venues across the territory every year. New films are featured as gala premieres, with the directors and cast presenting on the

red carpet A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions, and has in recent decades been extended to use by VIPs and celebrities at formal events. History The earliest known reference ...

and meet-and-greet sessions in theatres. The 46th edition of the festival was held from 15 August to 31 August 2022. The lineup included 204 films from 67 countries including 38 world, international or Asia premieres. ''

Where the Wind Blows ''Where the Wind Blows'' (Chinese: 風再起時), previously known as ''Theory of Ambitions'', is a 2022 Hong Kong crime thriller film written and directed by Philip Yung and starring Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Chiu-wai respectively as Lui Lok a ...

'' by Philip Yung and ''

Warriors of Future ''Warriors of Future'' (), previously known as ''Virtus'' (), is a 2022 Hong Kong science fiction action film directed by visual effects artist Ng Yuen-fai in his directorial debut and starring Louis Koo, Sean Lau, and Carina Lau. Koo also ser ...

'' by Ng Yuen-fai were opening films and ''

Tori and Lokita ''Tori and Lokita'' (french: Tori et Lokita), is a 2022 Belgian-French drama film written, directed and produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The film premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on 24 May 2022, where it competed for the Palme ...

'' by

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne Brothers Jean-Pierre Dardenne (; born 21 April 1951) and Luc Dardenne (born 10 March 1954), collectively referred to as the Dardenne brothers, are a Belgian filmmaking duo. They write, produce, and direct their films together. The Dardennes ...

was the closing film of the festival. ''A New Old Play'' by Qiu Jiongjiong won the 'Firebird Award' for the best film for the Young Cinema Competition.

History

Previously operated by

Urban Council The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Servic ...

and

Leisure and Cultural Services Department The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), is a department in the Government of Hong Kong. It reports to the Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau, headed by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism. It provides leisure and cultural ...

, from 1977 to 2001, and

Hong Kong Arts Development Council The Hong Kong Arts Development Council (ADC) is a statutory body in Hong Kong tasked with development of the arts in the territory. The ADC was created in 1995, under the Hong Kong Arts Development Council Ordinance, Chapter 472, replacing t ...

, from 2002 to 2004, HKIFF was officially incorporated as an independent, charitable organisation – Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Limited after completing its 28th edition. The Hong Kong SAR Government has continued to subsidise the festival through venue provision and partial funding. Since 2012, HKIFF produced and premiered anthologies of short films made by well-known award winning filmmakers from Asia, such as

Ann Hui Ann Hui On-wah, (; born 23 May 1947) is a film director, producer, screenwriter and actress from Hong Kong who is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers of the Hong Kong New Wave. She is known for her films about social issues in Ho ...

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic and a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Although he has worked in a variety of genres, Kurosawa is best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre, his honorific ...

Jia Zhangke Jia Zhangke ( zh, c=贾樟柯, p=Jiǎ Zhāngkē, born 24 May 1970) .He is a Chinese-language film and television director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and writer. He is the dean of the Shanxi Film Academy of Shanxi Media College and the dea ...

Brillante Mendoza Brillante "Dante" Mendoza (born 30 July 1960) is a Filipino independent filmmaker. Mendoza is known one of the key members associated with the Filipino New Wave. Career He was born and raised in San Fernando, Pampanga. He took advertising ...

Hideo Nakata is a Japanese filmmaker. Life and career Nakata was born in Okayama, Japan. He is most familiar to Western audiences for his work on Japanese horror films such as ''Ring'' (1998), ''Ring 2'' (1999) and ''Dark Water'' (2002). Several of these we ...

Tsai Ming-liang Tsai Ming-liang (; born 27 October 1957) is a Malaysian-Taiwanese filmmaker. Tsai has written and directed 11 feature films, many short films, and television films. He is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of Taiwanese ...

, and

Apichatpong Weerasethakul Apichatpong Weerasethakul ( th, อภิชาติพงศ์ วีระเศรษฐกุล; ; ) is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Working outside the strict confines of the Thai film studio system ...

. Since 2017, HKIFF started to collaborate with Heyi Pictures to produce two feature films a year by young Chinese filmmakers that will hold their world premieres at HKIFF. 林青霞

Past events

Competition

HKIFF Firebird Awards include three categories: Young Cinema Competition, Documentary Competition and Short Film Competition. The results are decided by three jury teams consisting of film industry professionals such as

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

s, directors and film festival delegates. Besides Firebird Awards, HKIFF also established FIPRESCI Prize in HKIFF23 to recognize enterprising filmmakers and promotes young talent in Asian cinema. Starting from HKIFF41, Audience Choice Award is held during the film festival when the audience members who purchased tickets and festival passes could vote for their favorite films. From HKIFF43, the Young Cinema Competition was divided into "Chinese Language" and "World" sections.

References

Notes

External links